Konstantinos Christou
| Konstantinos Christou | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nickname(s) | Kottas |
| Born | 1863 Prespes, Ottoman Empire (now Greece) |
| Died | 1905 (aged 42) Manastir, Ottoman Empire (now R. Macedonia) |
| Allegiance |
|
| Years of service | 1898–1905 |
| Unit |
|
| Battles/wars | Macedonian Struggle |
Konstantinos Christou (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Χρήστου, Bulgarian and Macedonian: Константин Христов, known as Kottas (Κώττας), was an insurgent leader first associated with the pro-Bulgarian Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) and later with the pro-Greek irregular fighters during the Greek struggle for Macedonia. Christou was born in the village of Rulja (Greek Ρούλια/Roulia, Macedonian Slavic Руља, now known as Kottas in the Florina regional unit) in 1863 and was president (community leader) of Roulia, from 1893 to 1896. He began anti-Ottoman rebel activity in 1898, and then killed four local Ottoman officers. Later he became one of the first leaders of the Macedonian struggle.
Though a Slavopohone, Kottas had a Greek identity. He initially was a member the IMRO movement, but he felt deceived after he realized the real purposes of the Bulgarian-directed IMRO against the Greek Macedonians. The day that Marko Lerinski ordered Kottas to kill a Patriarchate priest, he decided to join the Greeks (Hellenic Macedonian Committee).
As Kottas began to dislike Bulgarians, he started to fight them. He was sentenced to death by IMRO twice for murders of IMRO members. The IMRO also accused him under the pretense of theft. Kottas developed ties with the Greek bishop of Kastoria, Germanos Karavangelis, in order to organize his struggle against the IMRO. His mission was to kill IMRO leader (voivode) Lazar Poptraykov and other leaders in order to protect Greek civilians. Karavangelis funded his troops.Gotse Delchev had repeatedly pardoned and vainly tried to reform Kottas before he was finally outlawed by the IMRO, after entering the service of the Greek bishop. At the time of the Ilinden Uprising (1903), when all old wrongs were forgiven in the name of the common struggle, Kottas was received back into IMRO due to the insistence of the same voivode he set out to kill, Lazar Poptraykov. During the uprising, Poptraykov had been wounded and had taken refuge with Kottas, who used the opportunity to kill him and present his head to the Greeks. The Greek bishop was wary of him on account of his Slavic mother tongue and hatred of Turks. His behavior towards the Ottomans was an obstruction to the Greek tactic, because many times, it was necessary to co-operate with the Ottoman officers against the Bulgarian enemy (IMRO).
...
Wikipedia